Gustavo Caetano-Anolles
Encyclopedia
Gustavo Caetano-Anollés is Professor of Bioinformatics in the Department of Crop Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
. He is an expert in the field of evolutionary genomics. He obtained his doctorate in biochemistry at the National University of La Plata in Argentina in 1986. During his early career at Ohio State University
and the University of Tennessee
he studied the symbiosis between nitrogen-fixing root nodule
-forming bacteria and legumes from different angles, exploring the role of bacterial attachment and chemotaxis and plant systemic signals that control nodule number. While in Tennessee he co-invented the technique of DNA amplification with arbitrary primers [see DNA amplification fingerprinting (DAF) and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD
)]. This technique generates fingerprints of nucleic acids and molecular markers useful for genome mapping and molecular ecology and evolution. He also developed widely used methods for the silver staining of DNA that are commercially available. He holds several US patents in molecular biology. He joined the faculty of the Department of Biology at the University of Oslo
in 1998 and directed the laboratory of molecular ecology and evolution. Since 2003 he is at the University of Illinois and is an affiliate of the Institute for Genomic Biology. He received the Emile Zuckerkandl
Prize in molecular evolution in 2002. His current research integrates structural biology, genomics and molecular evolution. He is particularly interested in evolution of macromolecular structure. His group has recently reconstructed the history of the protein world using information in entire genomes, traced evolution of proteins in biological networks (see the MANET database
), uncovered the origin of modern metabolism, and used genomic information to propose that Archaea was the first organismal lineage to arise from the common ancestor of all life. He is currently exploring the role of domain structure and organization in proteins and the evolution of functional RNA (e.g., ribosomal and transfer RNA).
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
. He is an expert in the field of evolutionary genomics. He obtained his doctorate in biochemistry at the National University of La Plata in Argentina in 1986. During his early career at Ohio State University
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...
and the University of Tennessee
University of Tennessee
The University of Tennessee is a public land-grant university headquartered at Knoxville, Tennessee, United States...
he studied the symbiosis between nitrogen-fixing root nodule
Root nodule
Root nodules occur on the roots of plants that associate with symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria. Under nitrogen-limiting conditions, capable plants form a symbiotic relationship with a host-specific strain of bacteria known as rhizobia...
-forming bacteria and legumes from different angles, exploring the role of bacterial attachment and chemotaxis and plant systemic signals that control nodule number. While in Tennessee he co-invented the technique of DNA amplification with arbitrary primers [see DNA amplification fingerprinting (DAF) and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD
RAPD
RAPD stands for random amplification of polymorphic DNA. It is a type of PCR reaction, but the segments of DNA that are amplified are random. The scientist performing RAPD creates several arbitrary, short primers , then proceeds with the PCR using a large template of genomic DNA, hoping that...
)]. This technique generates fingerprints of nucleic acids and molecular markers useful for genome mapping and molecular ecology and evolution. He also developed widely used methods for the silver staining of DNA that are commercially available. He holds several US patents in molecular biology. He joined the faculty of the Department of Biology at the University of Oslo
University of Oslo
The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...
in 1998 and directed the laboratory of molecular ecology and evolution. Since 2003 he is at the University of Illinois and is an affiliate of the Institute for Genomic Biology. He received the Emile Zuckerkandl
Emile Zuckerkandl
Emile Zuckerkandl is an Austrian-American biologist considered one of the founders of the field of molecular evolution. He is best known for introducing, with Linus Pauling, the concept of the molecular clock, which set the stage for the neutral theory of molecular evolution.- Life and work...
Prize in molecular evolution in 2002. His current research integrates structural biology, genomics and molecular evolution. He is particularly interested in evolution of macromolecular structure. His group has recently reconstructed the history of the protein world using information in entire genomes, traced evolution of proteins in biological networks (see the MANET database
MANET database
The Molecular Ancestry Network database is a bioinformatics database that maps evolutionary relationships of protein architectures directly onto biological networks. It was originally developed by Hee Shin Kim, Jay E...
), uncovered the origin of modern metabolism, and used genomic information to propose that Archaea was the first organismal lineage to arise from the common ancestor of all life. He is currently exploring the role of domain structure and organization in proteins and the evolution of functional RNA (e.g., ribosomal and transfer RNA).
Selected publications
- M.L. Wang, L.S. Yafremava, D. Caetano-Anollés, J.E. Mittenthal and G. Caetano-Anollés (2007) Reductive evolution of architectural repertoires in proteomes and the birth of the tripartite world. Genome Research 17: 1572-1585.
- G. Caetano-Anollés, S.H. Kim and J.E. Mittenthal (2007) The origins of modern metabolic networks inferred from phylogenomic analysis of protein structure. Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences USA 10: 9358-9363.
- G. Caetano-Anollés (2002) Evolved RNA secondary structure and the rooting of the universal tree. Journal of Molecular Evolution 54:333-345.
- G. Caetano-Anollés (1996) Scanning of nucleic acids by in vitro amplification: new developments and applications. Nature Biotechnology 14: 1668-1674.
- G. Caetano-Anollés and P.M. Gresshoff (1991) Plant genetic control of nodulation. Annual Review in Microbiology 45:345-382.
External links
- Gustavo Caetano-Anolles page at the Department of Crop Science: http://www.cropsci.uiuc.edu/faculty/gca/
- Molecular Ancestry Networks (MANET): http://www.manet.uiuc.edu/